straight to work and now they're paving a new road to the middle class. >> i didn't realize why i liked i.t. or where it was going. >> ethan chose a two-year degree in liberal arts at the community college. >> i thought it would be a great place to just find my direction. >> reporter: he ended up finding a lot more than that. his degree landed him a job in the college's computer center and later a promotion. >> i was making $ 62,000. i felt pretty good about how things went even without having a bachelors. >> ethan is one of many community college graduates proving that a four-year university isn't the only gateway to the middle class. according to a georgetown university study, 28% of americans with associates degrees make more than those with bachelors degrees. >> associates degrees are for fast starters. >> reporter: and that's exactly what it was for ethan. a start. he went on to get his bachelors

degree on his employers' tab. >> because of my role working, they were able to waive the tuition. >> his salary now $76,000, not a bad return on a $10,000 investment. his sister chose a different path, an expensive masters degree from new york university. >> she went into biology and i believe she's opting more into wanting to teach. that's an expensive way to switch gears. >> i didn't have to provide -- >> reporter: enrollment at community colleges spiked during the recession, now it's beginning to fall as the economy improves, but tuition at four-year colleges is rising. the job market is still struggling and student loan debt is skyrocketing. >> and attending a community college and getting an associate's degree is a more practical decision. >> reporter: start at a community college if you're trying to trim costs. >> where you went to school matters less and less. what matters more and more is what you take. >> reporter: second, learn a practical indemand skill like computer science. and finally, see if your

employer will chip in. >> that was essential to help me finishing my bachelors. >> so is america on the verge of an economic renaissance? catch ali velshi and me right back here at 1:00 p.m. eastern on "your money," "cnn saturday morning" continues right now. good saturday morning to you, great to see you, i'm susan hendricks in today for randi kaye. 10:00 on the east coast. we begin right outside washington this morning where conservatives are gathered to set their course for the future. it is the conservative political action conference or cpac. this is the last day of the conference which has featured republican heavy weights offering their advice for the party. paul steinhauser is back with us. joining us now from cpac. a lot of buzz around sarah palin, of course, paul. so what have you heard so far this morning besides that? >> well, speaking right now is

michele bachmann from minnesota who you remember she ran for the republican presidential nomination. she's talking right now. a couple minutes ago, scott walker the republican governor of wisconsin was talking and he got a big -- a big realization. the future of the party is not going to come from here in washington but rather the state houses from the republican governors, there are 30 of them right now. take a listen to what scott walker had to say. >> there are now in america some 30 states that have republican governors and republican legislatures. that's the good news. the good news is we have success and it's happening in our states and we could learn from that to tell our friends and colleagues in washington how to move forward. to be successful in the states, we have to be optimistic. we have to be relevant. and most importantly, we have to be courageous. >> and that's one of the themes

here. cpac is the largest annual gathering of conservative activists and supporters across the country. and the theme here is what does the party do after losing the presidential election last year? does it moderate or stay true to the conservative principles. >> that's the big question, paul. and what do you expect today on the last day after bauchmann? >> well, you gave a little tease right there, sarah palin will be speaking, she was the 2008 vice presidential nominee. she wasn't much of a factor in the last election, but she's a big hero to a lot of people on the right. she had a big speech last year and i expect this crowd behind me is going to be into her speech again this year. one other thing, we get the results of the straw poll, the republican nomination 2016 straw poll. 2016 a long way away, but a lot of people are thinking about it. 23 names on that ballot. cpac is part conference and also part carnival. you can get t-shirts, you can

even get coffee mugs cpac 2013, it's a real festival here in so many ways. >> i like that conference and a carnival. paul steinhauser, thanks. two high school football players on trial for rape are back in steubenville, ohio, courtroom today. this morning, trent mayes and malik richard monday are accused of raping a 16-year-old girl twice last summer. three teens testified about the alleged abuse yesterday. they were all granted immunity and one admitted taking disturbing pictures like this one and sharing them with friends. one of the witnesses admitted to recording a cell phone video of mayes sexually abusing the girl in a car while driving from one party to the other. if convicted, the teens could be held in juvenile detention until they turn 21. to washington now where the pentagon is taking threats from north korea very seriously, so seriously, in fact, that defense secretary chuck hagel has committed $1 billion to expand the west coast missile defense

system. tom foreman has more on the threat and how the defense system is supposed to work. tom? >> the pentagon is acknowledging that north korea is becoming more of a global threat because of the speed at which it is developing its missile program and its nuclear weapon program. how does the military want to respond to that? at the front line by going to the pacific ocean where the fear is that north korea on its best day might be able to launch a missile that would go all the way out to hit some parts of the united states. what are they going to do about that? first of all, they want more radar support. they want a new base in japan here to be tracking ely on what's happening. they want to beef up missiles in alaska and california and, of course, they want steady monitoring from ships at sea from airplanes overhead and satellites all watching to see if north korea is going to launch at some point our way. how would that work? well, if north korea launches a missile, all the early warning systems would send the coordinates of the flight back

to these response missiles which would then fire and go up and try to hit it and take it out. ideally, they would like to hit it early on or in the middle and last resort way over here. what they want is numerous shots at it so they can stop it. that's really the goal. they have to have numerous shots. this is all still fairly new technology and not all entirely reliable. we don't know that the north koreans a the this point can really get a missile to go this far. but our ability to intercept it and stop it is also a tricky, tricky thing to pull off. look at the things we would use for this. this is what we would launch out of alaska and california. and it would release something like this. this is called a kill vehicle. you see it's got those little propulsion units around it there. and it also has an infrared guidance system in the nose. and that, when it gets released locks in on the nuclear warhead in this missile and it will guide this in to actually smash into that at 17,000 miles an

hour and tear it apart. it does not explode, this is about as big as a refrigerator, smashes into it and tears it apart. you can imagine how difficult it is to pull off. but this is the technology that we're trying to perfect so we can stop the north korean technology if and when they ever get it perfected and actually can threaten the u.s. mainland. >> tom foreman, thank you. the body of hugo chavez will not be embalmed and put on display for everyone to see. venezuela made that decision after doctors said it would be quite difficult to do. in order to do that procedure, chavez' body would have been flown to russia and remain there for about months. he died last month after battling cancer, he was 58. pope francis told reporters that he wants the catholic church to be poor. the new pope spoke to the media for the first time since his election on wednesday. and he explained why he picked the name francis saying it reflects a concern for the poor.

he says that name keeps the spirit of st. francis alive calling him, quote, a poor man, a simple man as we would like a poor church for the poor, end quote. rapper lil wayne is recovering after having a seizure. his friends and fellow rapper drake came to visit him. reports from gossip site said lil wayne was in a medically induced coma and was near death, but his camp debunk that. a tweet went out last night reading this, i'm good, everybody, thank you for your prayers and love. and the president of the rapper's record label says don't believe the nonsense about comas and tubes to breathe, that is false. the four-time grammy winner is also known as wheezy, listen to his song "mirror." ♪ look at me when i'm talking to you ♪ ♪ i see the blood in your eyes ♪ i see the love --

>> also known for his distinct style as you can see tattoos and diamond teeth. elton john also on the mend this morning. the british singer canceled his concert in birmingham, alabama, last night for medical purposes. but there were no details given about what those issues were. ticket master announced the cancellation hours before the show. refunds will be issued to all those disappointed fans out there. he is the man behind some of the music industry's biggest hits, but it's the darker side to phil spector's story that is headed to the small screen. why it's generating plenty of controversy. ♪ [ jen garner ] what skincare brand is so effective... so trusted... so clinically proven dermatologists recommend it twice as much

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next weekend's debut of the new hbo movie "phil spector" is bringing with it protests and plenty of controversy. the crime bio pic stars al pacino and helen miren. take a look. >> did you kill lana clarkson? >> why would i kill that girl? why? >> you're going to jail for the rest of your life. >> i've played this game a million times before. i know how the game is played! >> talented actors involve pacino, of course, playing the music genius and convicted murderer phil spector. shot and killed lana clarkson inside his mansion back in 2003. spector has always maintained that clarkson killed herself. joining me now are alan jackson, the prosecutor who helped convict spector and former prosecutor beth karas, she covered the trial. great to talk to you both. >> nice to be here. >> hello. >> beth, i want to start with you.

lana's publicist tells the hollywood reporter, to see that film was going to be made was a slap in the face, we were so happy that phil spector was in prison. beth, why do you think this group is so mad about this picture, this movie? >> well, it's because the movie takes literary license, they have a right to do that, but they portray lana clarkson's death as a suicide, not a murder. and that was the defense in the case. that's the defense that the jury outright flat out rejected. and nothing in this movie is going to affect the integrity of the evidence and that verdict that sent phil spector to prison for the rest of his life. >> and alan, i want to get your take on this, phil spector's life was on piers morgan last night and we're going to listen. >> but i will say the one thing that was accurately depicted through the film and was reiterated was the fact that lana clarkson was loaded on pills and alcohol, was in a very desperate and bad mental state

and killed herself. so at the end, they actually showed forensic evidence that supports that. >> by the way, they got married after the fact. so alan, what do you think about that? your thoughts? >> well, i think it's ridiculous. look, richelle's got a dog in the fight as it were. but if he was attempting through this film poke holes in the integrity of the case, i've got to say bless his heart, he should stick to entertainment because he couldn't find a hole if he stepped in one. other than -- the treatment in this film was almost child like other than playing dress-up with al pacino, everything else in the film was complete fantasy. and he seems to work in this fiction fantasy and fairy tale world and in the court of law, we work in fact, we trade in fact. the facts are undisputed, the scientific evidence, the circumstantial evidence established beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury of his peers

that phil spector put a gun in lana clarkson's mouth and killed her on february 3rd. that is uncontroverted. >> yeah, i think both sides don't like this movie no matter what they believe. alan, during the trial your opening statement, i believe you said lana was murdered twice when she was killed and during the trial with her character assassination. a review on this movie, is he successful in introducing doubt? i know you believe that he killed lana, but there are people out there who believe that she was under the influence of alcohol and pills and killed herself. your response to that. >> the evidence couldn't be more clear. the evidence could not be more straightforward. david mamet ignored basically everything that was presented in the trial that was based in fact. again, the movie and i saw the movie. i've seen a screening of it, a cut of it last night. it's just complete fantasy. and i think it goes beyond just being irresponsible. i think it's offensive. it's offensive to the memory of

lana clarkson, it's offensive to the family of the victim. there are four or five things that david mamet and the production just completely ignored. the relative positions between phil spector and lana clarkson showed she could not have held the gun, he hands had to be outstretched like this, her palms away from her. she could not have fired the gun herself. number two, he never called for help. he had an opportunity to call 911 during a 45-minute period before the police got there, not one time did he reach for a phone, three phones were within 10 feet of him. number three, he tried to stage the crime scene. he clearly got rid of his jacket, tried to wipe the gun down, placed the gun under her feet. number four, he walked outside and said i think i killed somebody within seconds of the gun going off. he literally had the smoking gun in his hand and said i think i killed somebody. he confessed to it. and finally, the best indicator of what someone's going to do in the future is what they've done in the past. and for 30 years, susan, for 30

years phil spector has been putting guns in women's faces and threatening to kill them. lana clarkson on february 3rd simply got the bullet. >> wow. and beth, during this trial, i know you covered it. was there a lot of speculation maybe as to why did they know of his abusive past? his alleged abusive past, beth? >> oh, yes. and there was a lot of litigation. alan was involved in before trial to have the jury here to get some of these prior acts admitted and the jury did hear from five of these women in his case in chief and in his rebuttal case. they heard from these women who had guns held to their heads, who feared that the gun was loaded and that he might actually pull the trigger and as alan just said, lana clarkson is the one who got the bullet. >> alan, what was the thrill you found when trying this case that he did that? what was it? because i guess the question when you think about this crime is why would he do this? what was the motive to kill her?

>> i don't know that he had a motive to kill her. i think he had a motive to scare her. i think he had a motive to bully her. i think he had a motive to intimidate her. it was never my theory he put the gun to her face in order to kill her. that would have been first-degree murder, he was k t convicted of second-degree murder. i believe his motivation was to bully her to overcome -- look, there was a recipe involved. every single time he's historically gotten drunk, amorous and gotten rebuffed by a woman he was interested in, he turns to violence, he pulls a gun. i think that's exactly what happened in this case. he'd been drinking all night long, he found a beautiful young woman that he was interested in, invited her back to his place under thaving help her career. and when she rebuffed his advances, he pulled the gun and put the gun in her face. struggle ensued and doesn't take much for the gun to go off and

that's what happened. >> such a tragic loss. appreciate your time. thank you. >> of course. coming up, investigators try to if anything your out why a small plane crashed in the ft. lauderdale parking lot killing three people. also, the latest in the search for a missing young teacher in new orleans. what is being done to aid in the search. see life in the best light. outdoors, or in. automatically filter amount of light. the way it's meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. experience life well lit, adaptive lenses. vision center today transitions xtractive lenses enhance your vision. save money. live better.

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investigators are looking into what caused this. a deadly plane crash in ft. lauderdale. three people died yesterday when that twin engine aircraft went down in a parking lot shortly after takeoff. that is the aftermath. the crash shook nearby buildings and sparked a fire that engulfed several parked cars.

here's what witnesses saw. >> i couldn't even describe it. it was a sound i've never heard before. >> went straight down into the ground and it was boom and explosion. >> you see the plane just sideways. and then it just goes just behind the building and then you just hear the -- >> remarkably no one on the ground was hurt. officials say the plane hit a tree and a fence before slamming into seven vehicles and a boat. to new orleans now where there is no sign of terrilyn monet. a houston search firm is bringing in more sophisticated sonar equipment to comb that area's waterways on monday. cnn's nick valencia is in new orleans. and what are people saying about their efforts to find terrilyn. >> they have no new information and no new leads.

a use mentioned, susan, today is exactly two weeks since she was last spotted. surveillance cameras caught her leaving the bar in the lake view area of new orleans around 4:00 a.m. and that's the last anyone has seen her. in fact, we attended a prayer vigil outside of that bar where organizers were passing out these missing signs and at least in the area where she went missing, susan, these signs are everywhere. in terms of the search, they're concentrating the search in a nearby park, police think she might have used that path on her way home. but there's just no telling the investigation and search will continue throughout the weekend. you mentioned equisearch, the search and rescue team have been using sonar equipment to comb the waterways and the bayous in and around that area. so far, that serge hasn't turned up anything at all. on sunday, tomorrow they'll bring in more high-powered sonar device that's going to allow them to check a wider area at faster pace. this sonar device can look as far down as 1,000 feet and

identify a coke can. the bayous around that area are only about 6 feet in the deepest portions, but still, having said that, they haven't been able to turn up any new leads or information or signs of monette. >> i know her mom has spoken out publicly, literally crying and pleading on camera and her students are lost without her. also, i understand discoveries were made in certain bayous. but, nick, they're not connected to her disappearance. >> no, that's right, susan. they are not connected at all about at least eight cars were found in a bayou, but those cars were probably there since hurricane katrina. they don't match the description at all of that black two-door honda, the 2012 honda that she was last seen driving in. also, it's worth noting in an unrelated case yesterday, the new orleans police department told us that a body washed ashore in the industrial canal. no details on that. but we do know that has nothing to do with the investigation. you mentioned the mother, it's

just a terrible tragedy for this family and she was here in our bureau, in our new orleans bureau yesterday talking about how frustrated she was. in most missing persons cases, there's that 24-hour rule by police department that they don't conduct a search within that first period, she thinks if police have conducted searches, maybe there might be leads as to the whereabouts. she's very frustrated right now and no answers for this family. they're just growing increasingly frustrated. >> and our thoughts are with them. thanks so much from new orleans. getting conservatives energized again. mitt romney offers his advice on this saying chris christie may be the guy to follow. but cpac organizers apparently don't agree. maria cordona weighs in next. [ male announcer ] it's red lobster's lobsterfest

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welcome back, everyone, i'm susan hendricks. and here are the five stories we're watching for you this morning. number one, the pentagon is expanding the missile defense network on the west coast in response to threats from north korea. defense secretary chuck hagel says that could spend as much $1 billion on the expansion. north korea test fired two short-range missiles this morning. number two, rapper lil wayne is recovering after having a seizure, his record label fought

back against reports he was in a medically induced coma and near death. lil wayne tweeted last night saying this, i'm good, everybody, thanks for the prayers and love. his friends and fellow rapper drake came to visit him in l.a. and set up a vigil outside of his room inside the hospital. number three, the most influential celebrity of the year is oprah. forbes magazine crowned her with the honor for the second year. she beat out names like steven spielberg and clint eastwood, as well. influential down from one point last year. number four, people aboard a greyhound bus said a swarm of roaches came crawling out of the air vents and infested the bus. >> sat down, roaches started crawling up on our clothes, falling out the ceiling, everything. >> just like 1,000 roaches. when i say infested, i mean infested. >> the man had roaches on his coat, the lady had a roach on her hat. it was terrible.

>> that'll make you cringe. the bus driver pulled over and another bus got the passengers. greyhound said we're sorry and refunded the passengers and is investigating how the roaches got in there in the first place. number five, sarah palin is the main attraction at the conservative political action conference today. she's slated to speak at noontime. also on tap for today is the annual cpac straw poll. this year we're guaranteed to get a new pick for party flag bearer. and here are some of the highlights, speaking of, yesterday from cpac. >> i know folks have a lot of opinions about what happened in november. but seriously, how many conferences and lunch panels do we really need to have about it? i'm starting to wonder if the caters union is behind it. >> anybody who is a member of my club, i love. maybe president obama should join one of my clubs, i would love it. >> the senate, they call their

budget a foundation for growth, restoring the promise of american opportunity. wow, i feel like saluting already. but when you read it, you find that the vatican's not the only place blowing smoke this week. >> the one thing a violent rapist deserves to face is a good woman with a gun. >> joining me now our cnn contributor maria cardona. great to talk to you both. >> good morning, susan. >> mitt romney spoke yesterday and said that the gop needs to learn from their governors, names like bob mcdonnell also new jersey chris christie, neither of whom, by the way, were invited to cpac. are you shocked he brought up those two names? amy, i'll start with you. >> i'm not and glad he did. i also notice that bob mcdonnell and chris christie are getting

as much mileage as not being invited as if they had shown up. the mainstream media really doesn't tell its audience, which is cpac is really a youth event. it's packed to the rafters with young people who have come from all over the country to speak, touch on politics and policy and to the extent that cpac is influential, it's for rising stars to be able to make their names on that stage and get young people really excited, you know, about the conservative movement. more so than having to do with the gop. >> maria, what are your thoughts on that? and is donald trump a rising star or already a star? >> it is all right. i think it's kind of a joke, frankly, and the fact he was one of the headliners at cpac i think underscores the fact they should not be the organization that the republican party looks to in terms of giving them a formula to win. and the fact they did not invite governors who did know how to

win like mcdonnell and like christie, i think underscores that. now, it is a place, certainly, for rising stars to make their mark in the conservative movement. but when you have people like donald trump and when you underscore people like sarah palin with the overall population and especially the growing demographics in this country that the republican party needs to attract more of in order to win, it does not underscore seriousness to get to the white house or to win as a national political party. >> amy, i want your thoughts on this one. >> i think that's the mistake to think that cpac is an organization that's meant to be political and explicitly partisan and about elections. certainly there was a lot of conversation about elections and you did see gop stars on that stage. i think where cpac made the mistake with donald trump is believing that his celebrity would draw these young people to come listen to him. and in fact, turned out the room was half empty. these folks -- and we're talking about college-aged kids. they want to go and hear meaty discussions about conservatism.

and they don't support necessarily republicans, they would call themselves independent. this is really a movement event. not a partisan party-based one. >> do we think it's time we move on, though, mitch mcconnell is tired of hearing about 2012 and talking about the gop failures. is he right? should we move on from that? >> absolutely, and cpac is a place you would hope some of that would happen. policy discussions about moving our country forward, conservative solutions to a lot of our social, economic, national security issues and there were panels all through these days in washington, d.c. to address those very things. i think cpac made a big mistake by not including go proud and log cabin republicans to be a part of that conversation. hopefully it's something they'll rectify for next year. >> maria, i want to talk about wayne lapierre quickly here. he had a prime speaking spot. should that be a message that no republicans will ever vote for any means of gun control?

your thoughts on that. >> well, i think it should be more of a message to voters in this country that a political party and i know that amy keeps talking about how cpac is not focused on republican or political politics. that's right. but you can't get away from the fact that it is -- it is part in parcel of the gop of the republican party. and so when you have people like wayne lapierre speaking at this, it's clearly a message from the nra warning republicans they should not focus on any type of gun violence priorities or legislation. and i think what it tells the american people is once again that these are leaders, call them republican leaders, call them conservative leaders, whatever you want. but these are not leaders that are in tune with where the majority of americans are. the majority of americans want sensible gun violence legislation so that -- so that all of the gun violence that we have seen in the past several

years doesn't happen again or at least there is a dent in there. and -- people like wayne lapierre who are focusing on zero solutions is not the way to get there. >> very quickly, harry reid is endorsed by the nra, wayne lapierre campaigned on behalf of harry reid. it's an organization for second amendment advocates. and you can find them, actually, on the other side of the aisle with very explicit nra support. again, we need to get away -- >> and the majority of nra members also support sensible gun legislation. >> it certainly sparks enthusiastic conversation on both sides. maria and amy, thanks again, great to talk to you again both always. i do want to share a light moment from cpac's first day, it was back and forth. the issue of hillary clinton came up and begala, friend of the clintons was asked if she was going to run in 2016. listen to the response.

>> i have no idea if she will. i think she's actually going to first, like live a life, write her book, reacquaint herself with the real world having been traveling the world, but i think this is really -- no, not get a facelift, she's not a republican society lady, she's a real woman. >> oh, that apparently did not end the clinton attacks. yesterday mitch mcconnell joked he couldn't consider the democrats as the party of the future because their 2016 ticket with hillary clinton and joe biden would be just like the golden girls. can't we just get along? for much more news from inside and outside the beltway, we want to remind you that cnn chief washington correspondent jake tapper has a new show, the lead with jake tapper. and coming up next, the story and the little boy behind this viral video. this little guy is just 4 years old and he certainly is inspiring.

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we are all guilty of it to some extent. taking the simple things in life for granted every day. but one 4-year-old california boy could change your outlook on life. and it's all because this viral video. take a look. >> come on, find the curb. >> where's the curb? >> find it. >> let's go.

>> you got it. you got it. >> i can do it. >> you can do it. >> i can do it. >> you can do it, baby, go ahead. you're safe. good job. you got it, turn, good job. so proud of you. >> that is gavin stevens, he was diagnosed with an extremely rare retina disorder in 2009 at just 6 months old left him nearly blind, no cure. but there's no stopping gavin and his passion to live his life like any other kid, to challenge himself one small step at a time. his mom jennifer documented this major steppingstone in gavin's growth last week. conquering his fear of curbs. the video has inspired thousands of people including myself. joining me now 4-year-old gavin

along with his parents jennifer and troy. thank you all for being here. >> thank you, susan. >> thanks for having us. >> thank you, susan. >> gavin, way to go, how did you feel making it over that curb? >> um, i was okay. >> were you a little bit afraid? >> yeah. >> what made you finally in your mind think i can do this? did your mom help you out? >> i did it by myself. >> wow. and we saw it firsthand. jennifer, the moment you captured there is beyond inspiring. i tear up when i see it. was it hard for you, jennifer to hold back and not assist your son down the curb? >> yeah. originally, i did -- i was holding his hands because he hadn't really gone down that curb particularly. that's the curb out of his school. he had not gone down that independently. and so i was holding his hand and that day he told me, no, i

can do it. he literally pushed me away and i said, okay, i grabbed my camera and i shot that video. >> well, it is touching, and i love when he says i can do it, i can do it. troy, as his father, tell me about how it's been on the family and also explain the genetic eye disorder. how rare is it? >> well, the eye disorder itself is very rare. there's only 3,000 people in the country that have lca. and even more rare in gavin's gene mutation, there's only about 150 cases of it in the nation. so it's very rare. >> and jennifer, you and troy have been raising money for research that could lead to a possible cure. talk to me about the foundation. i love the name, by the way, gavin's groupies. tell us about that. >> thank you. yeah, our gavin's groupies are basically all of our supporters and our friends and family. hi, guys. gavin r. stevens foundation, we started it because we felt we needed to do something and needed to heal. and the only way to do that is

just spread awareness there's a very rare condition that affects our son and get the name out there and try to just do the best we can with the situation we were dealt with and try to make the best of it. and so we're just fund raising and fund raising and fund raising with hopes that we can be in a clinical trial for this particular gene and for it in general. there's children and individuals who live with this. and we're doing this all for them, as well. >> i'll put it on my facebook page and tweet it, as well. gavin, i understand you're a singer and you like to play the piano is that right, gavin? >> yeah. >> well, you're good at it too. we're going to hear some of your singing right here. ♪ i know i'm probably much too late ♪ ♪ to try to apologize for my mistakes ♪ ♪ but i want you to know

♪ >> is that bruno mars, gavin? is that one of your favorites? >> yes. >> who else do you like? do you like playing the piano, gavin? he's really good at it too. >> yeah. >> he's listening to the piano. >> how did he get into music, jennifer? >> you know, basically -- when he was months old -- i mean weeks old, i think, he just music was just -- he would hear music and a different side of our boy would come to life. i can't even put it into words. we -- it would make him happy, he would lay on the floor as a baby and just kick his feet. he couldn't even talk. and, you know, punched his little arms in the air and just wiggle around as a baby and it's

continued to be his passion. he absolutely loves music. it's his life. >> gavin, is that what you want to do when you get older? would you like to sing more and pursue a career maybe? >> yeah. >> well, you're off to a great start. it was great meeting all of you. and again, we hope that we can bring some knowledge to the general public about this so you can raise the funds that are needed. and gavin is such an inspiration. >> thank you. >> jennifer troy and gavin, great to talk to you, nice to meet you. >> i'm sorry? >> are you home? >> i'm going home soon. >> gavin, nice to meet you. good job, by the way. >> say thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you, susan. we appreciate it. >> he's the cutest. we appreciate it too for coming on. well, a must-see friday night slam dunk and a big loss that could change how your march madness bracket looks. r favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums.

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is that the best you got? now if you put this, with this, you have a sailboat. what's in your wallet? march madd madness kicks off tomorrow. duke's big loss last night in the acc tournament came at a bad time for the blue devils. joe carter joins me now. and joe, could the early exit affect how high duke gets seeded? >> i know many think duke should be the number one overall seed. but getting bounced in the first round hurts that cause. but i think they'll be the number one seed, at least, in the tournament. a lot of people think this team can win it all.

and obviously if they play like they did yesterday, they have no shot. but the positive, i guess, getting knocked out after one round, they'll have one week to rest. as far as maryland goes, the team that beat them yesterday, they are a bubble team, they need to win the acc tournament or make it to the finals for a spot in the ncaa tournament. if they play in north carolina today, it's going to be a tough game for them. the winner goes to the acc finals. long time rival syracuse and georgetown, they play their final game against one another yesterday. they're going to the acc next year, they'll play with duke and north carolina. these two schools, these two programs have battled it out for decades and, of course, this game as it should go to script went to overtime. they move on to the big east championship game tonight, they'll play louisville tonight. and my opinion, best dunk of the year. a lot of people saying best dunk of the conference tournament. victor oladipo, the 360 slam, this guy is a defensive player.

the big ten defensive player of the year, he's clearly got game. they'll play wisconsin later today, the winner goes to the big ten championship tomorrow. a lot of people that otherwise wouldn't pay attention to college basketball all of a sudden are interested with their brackets, walking around, working with their brackets filling them out. an estimated $2.5 billion is wagered on march madness. a lot of that done in illegal gambling and office pools and it's tolerated because it's small wagering, but my advice, go with your gut. >> what's the system? kind of close your eyes -- >> there is no system. if you ask a friend, pick a mascot. >> home field advantage meaning the closest team to the -- he was trying to teach me. i think i'll close my eyes and pick. >> good strategy. >> thanks so much. appreciate it. and for you college basketball fans as ncaa march madness kicks off this weekend, you can test your bracket skills

against cnn anchors, go to cnn.com/brackets and see if you can pick the ncaa bracket better than our cnn anchors. off the coast of seattle, washington, you've got to see this video. a few sea lion pups decided to hop on and take over a wind surfing board. the owner mounted the camera to catch it all. and struggled to stay on. if prosthetic limbs can be made for people, why not animals. meet an alligator with a new 3-foot-long prosthetic tail at a reptile preserve in arizona. his real tail was bitten off by another gator when he was a baby. it's believed to be the first time scientists have designed a rubber tail for a gator. a lot of science went into this and it could take up to six months for mr. stubs to learn how to use his new tail. thanks so much for watching, much more ahead in the next hour of "cnn saturday morning." for the times you need

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from the cnn center, this is cnn saturday morning, great to see you. it is saturday, march 16th. i'm susan hendricks in for randi kaye. and today we could hear from the teenage girl who accuses two high school football players of rape as this case moves into a rare weekend session. the u.s. answers north korea's threat of a nuclear strike by ramping up missile defenses. and also, what really happened in mississippi when three white teenagers ran down and killed a black man. accident or murder? cnn investigates.

we begin with that rare saturday criminal trial. the case has riveted the nation really. two teens are accused of raping a 16-year-old girl while she could barely open her eyes. the rape allegedly happened last august during a full night of partying. witnesses say the alleged victim was drunk. but the high school football players from steubenville, ohio, say they are innocent. yesterday, the suspects' friends testified they saw the whole thing. joining me now from steubenville is poppy harlow. poppy, yesterday was certainly a long day. i believe you said 12 hours. what happened in court? >> reporter: it was such a long day. explosive testimony yesterday, it is the first time, susan, that the prosecution in the state of ohio in this case has brought eyewitnesss to the stand. they brought three eyewitnesss, all three teenage boys, all three close friends with both of the co-defendants, trent mayes and malik richmond. the first of those witnesses to take the stand testifying that in the backseat of a car between

late night parties on august 11th, he witnessed trent mayes perform a sexual act on the alleged victim that in the state of ohio is considered rape if it is not consensual. he also admitted to actually videotaping that act for, quote, a couple of minutes. now, the next morning, deleting that video when he realized what he had done was wrong. the other witnesses both testified they saw the same thing. the other co-defendant, malik richmond performing a similar sexual act on this alleged victim when they got to a house after that car ride. he said the girl was laying naked on the basement floor and the key here when the prosecution asked, well, was she responding? one of those witnesses said, quote, she wasn't moving, she wasn't talking, she wasn't participating. he also admitted to taking a photo of this naked girl as she lay there. keep in mind, this eyewitness testimony is critical because that one alleged video of the

incident isn't around anymore. and it's also critical that we're hearing this from close friends of the defendant, susan. >> yeah, there's damaging text messages and a photo, as well, we've been showing. poppy, the accused saying they didn't do it, they're not guilty. what is the strategy of the defense? >> it's a good question because it's tough after this eyewitness testimony. the defense is using a few different strategies here. what they're doing is they're trying to poke holes in all of the witnesses' testimony. the first thing they're doing is saying over and over again to these witnesses, how do you know how drunk this girl was? were you with her all night? how can you say for sure how much she had to drink? some witnesses said she was stumbling but was walking on her own. others said she was speaking but slurring her speech. there's questions there. and when you talk about the infamous photo of the two defendants holding this alleged victim up by her arms and legs, it has gone viral around the

nation. really globally. the defense has gotten some witnesses to say that was a joke, the girl was conscious when that happened. others disagree. one of the keys here, it's been months since this allegedly happened and there's been so much social media chatter about it, so much media coverage by networks, the defense has gotten some witnesses to say, yes, indeed, they have sort of reconstructed their memory of the night through all of the social media and media reports that they've seen out there. that's key in this in terms of the credibility of the witnesses. we still haven't heard from the alleged victim in this. and we still have not heard from either of the co-defendants. we do expect the alleged victim to take the stand. not clear if the defendants will or not, susan. >> poppy harlow, live in ohio, thanks. >> yeah. you know, the u.s. is not wasting any time answering a north korean threat. when the north korean government suddenly warned it may launch a nuclear first strike, the

pentagon said it would install more missile intercepters in alaska and the west coast. 14 missile batteries at a cost of $1 billion. >> the american people expect us to take every necessary step to protect their security at home and u.s. strategic interests abroad. but they expect us to do so in the most efficient and effective manner possible. by taking the steps i've outlined today, we will strengthen our homeland defense, maintain our commitments to our allies and partners and make clear to the world that the united states stands firm against aggression. >> well, those extra missile defenses will be up and running by 2017. later in this hour, tom foreman explains how they are supposed to work. and that is the key question here. can the sophisticated missile defense system work? earlier we spoke with cnn military expert and he says first we have to find the missile, then we have to be able to shoot it down.

>> we have a mid-course intercepter ground based and sea based, that needs development. there have been tests, we've had failures and we've had successes. that gets into a lot of really precise mathematics and physics in terms of intercepting one of these missiles. so we've got to work at it, increase our chances of being protected. we're going to increase the number of those intercepters. >> and general marks says it's more important now than ever. it is the final day of the conservative political action conference meeting in national harbor, maryland. and today, cpac holds its annual straw poll. the vote is considered a gauge of who conservatives think may be a good future presidential candidate. there are 23 people on the list, plus room for write-ins. the list includes new jersey governor chris christie who, by the way, was not invited to speak at the conference, cnn political director mark preston joins me live from national

harbor. what's the latest buzz about the straw poll? is there a potential favorite in the crowd? >> well, you know, susan, in past years, the straw poll certainly was given a lot more attention. a lot more talk. there was discussion about ballot stuffing. because there was a belief if you won the straw poll, you would be considered a serious contender for president. however, that hasn't really bourn out over the past couple of years. however, the fact that we've seen the likes of chris christie on the straw poll, bob mcdonnell, two folks not invited here and organizers tell us that, in fact, they didn't invite chris christie because his brand of conservative didn't fit with this conference. however, for folks like rick santorum, senator rand paul, a win at the straw poll would give them a little wind behind their back as we are all focusing right now on the 2006 presidential election. >> yeah, mark, someone who doesn't fit in, sarah palin, she'll be speaking at noon. what are we expecting to hear from her.

i'm sure a large crowd will hear her speak. >> no question about that. i would expect probably more than 4,000 people will be in the ballroom behind me to hear her speak. antiestablishment will be her main thought. in fact, that's been the theme primarily over the past three days here at the conservative political action conference. sarah palin by and large has been out of the spotlight for the past year or so. she's no longer on tv. she was on a rival network. the fact is she's going to come and get a hero's applause no question about that. and it'll be interesting to see if she'll use this as a spring board to see whether what direction she's going to take, susan. will she start talking about possibly running herself in 2016? or will we see her trying to take on a bigger role in the conservative movement? >> that's the big question. she certainly has a following. thanks. we're talking about rapper lil wayne today. he is on the mend after reportedly suffering a seizure. according to his record label,

doctors at cedar medical center in l.a. he is recovering. drake led a vigil outside of his hospital room on friday. he's not the only celebrity under the weather. elton john canceled last night's show in alabama. a statement from the venue said because of medical reasons. no word yet on what the medical reasons are or if tonight's show in memphis has also been canceled. the streak goes on for the miami heat, 21 straight wins and the third longest winning streak in nba history. last night, the heat down the milwaukee bucks, that puts them one win away from tieing the second longest winning streak. the top scorers, no surprise here, lebron james and chris bosh each score 21 points and dwyane wade added 20 more. tomorrow is st. patrick's day and people are celebrating around the country, but will the

weather play along? alexandra steele is here with that. >> well, a lot of parades are today and a lot of them are very cold. so, you know, savannah already this morning started their parade. and we will see them today around the country. we can see this is a vana, one of the biggest in the country, it's been going on for 169 years. new york city about to get underway, as well. cloudy and cold, 37, chicago, green river included at noon today, very windy and cold with temperatures only at 33. but the winds will make it feel a lot colder than that. san francisco, 11:30 this morning, local time, as well. boston's is tomorrow at 1:00. 33 and cold there, as well, with a little bit of wind. and even around new york city if you're out there this morning or going. could see a few snow showers, you can see why. little clipper moving through with snow and rain today. here's that line and also i-70 around the ohio river, could see a few rain showers and very warm

in the south. so susan this is the last winter weekend. and it will feel like that from phoenix to atlanta, georgia. >> in boston, i don't think they care how cold it is. >> keep it coming. >> thank you. >> sure. the search is on for a missing new orleans teacher. we'll have a live report from new orleans with the latest. also, jodi arias spent 18 days on the witness stand. but has her testimony helped or hurt her case? the capital one cash rewards card

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investigators are still looking for a new orleans teacher who went missing two weeks ago. disappeared from outside of a bar after celebrating her nomination as teacher of the year. her mother is making an emotional plea for her safe return. >> i can't sleep at night. i can't sleep at night. i can't eat. i keep thinking about my child and where she could be. i just want her back. >> your heart breaks for her

mother. and nick valencia is live in new orleans. what's the latest? >> it doesn't get any easier to listen to that sound. it's just your heart breaks every time you listen to it, doesn't it, susan? the latest is police have nothing, now new leads, no new information. and today marks two weeks since that teacher terrilyn monette went missing. a surveillance camera caught her leaving around 4:00 a.m. now, investigators are focusing their search in a nearby park. they believe that this might have been the path that monette took home. this local area has been jumping on board, all hands on deck here. there's a lot of information. a lot on this story, i should, people are talking about it all. prayer vigil, organizers were passing out these signs and at least in the area she went missing, susan, these signs are everywhere. people are talking here locally. >> yeah. i understand, her students are upset too. we are thinking of her family. thank you.

american catholics are speensing more changes in their church than just a new pope. what will those changes mean for the new future? and a reminder for you now to watch cnn's new show "the lead" with jake tapper starts monday afternoon 4:00 eastern. mn to taste great. she was a picky eater. well now i'm her dietitian and last year, she wasn't eating so well. so i recommended boost complete nutritional drink to help her get the nutrition she was missing. and now she drinks it every day. well, it tastes great! [ male announcer ] boost has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones, and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. and our great taste is guaranteed or your money back. learn more at boost.com [ dietitian ] now, nothing keeps mom from doing what she loves... being my mom.

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18 days, that is how long murder defendant jodi arias testified on the stand in her own defense. how did she do as a witness? and did she save her own life by testifying? earlier i asked jane velez-mitchell about it. >> a lot of people said, look, she had to take the stand because first she lied, said she

wasn't there, then she said two ninjas did it then said it was self-defense. there's no corroboration for that self-defense except her telling it. but she was so elaborate with some of her, well, i think we've all concluded lies, that she may have created so many inconsistencies that it was an opportunity for the prosecutor to really show beyond a reasonable doubt that she's a liar. >> speaking of the prosecutor, juan martinez, he's really gone after her full force on the stand. >> were you crying while you were shooting him? >> i don't remember. >> were you crying when you were stabbing him? >> i don't remember. >> how about when you cut his throat? were you crying then? >> i don't know. >> do you think at all his style may be turning off the jury? >> well, it's very, very aggressi aggressive. but i have to say when you're dealing with a pathological liar and i do believe she is a pathological liar, you have to be aggressive because you can't

nail them down. she's using phrases like i guess, if you say so, it's possible. she slides out of everything he tries to pin her on. it is frustrating. i think sometimes he's let his frustration show. but as far as aggressive, you've got to really hone in on a pathological liar and rattle them to shake them off their story. that's how, i think, he got her to say, oh, there was a holster, which was totally bad news for her because now she's got to take the gun out of a holster then she says, well, maybe the holster wasn't there. so it showed the inconsistencies in her story even more. i think he's a little over the top, he's got to do something. >> and i think we really got a look into what the jury may be thinking and feeling with their questions. 200 plus questions. do you think that rattled jodi arias on the stand? >> i think it had too. i think she'd be back in her cell rocking in the fetal position over that break where she is the questions echoing in her mind. why should we believe you now when you've lied so many times

before? how can you remember intimate details of sexual encounters but you can't remember stabbing somebody 29 times? these questions were hostile, they were sarcastic. they were almost rhetorical. and certainly they gave us an insight into the soul of these jurors. they're not buying her act. >> they were sarcastic, and i remember a couple of them being snide. it doesn't seem like they like her at all. the next phase in this is the experts. do you think they will save jodi's life? >> her life is riding on these experts. clearly the jurors through their questions did not believe the fog. well, they're going to bring the psychologist on who is going to argue ferocious rly that, yes, this fog does exist and we've heard battles about this already. he's saying, look, police officers go into this fog when they shoot somebody and they're trained to shoot somebody. so if he can prove that this so-called fog, which the prosecutor was so sarcastic about, which the jurors were so sarcastic about is real, then

maybe, maybe that's the only chance for jodi arias not to get the needle. >> stay up to speed on the jodi arias trial with jane velez-mitchell. you can catch her on our sister network hln weeknights at 7:00 eastern. a maryland man is dead after he contracted rabies. the strange way he got the deadly virus. and later, a cnn investigation into whether one rural mississippi county is ignoring hate crimes. but first, latin americans make up a fast-growing segment in the american catholic church. that means changes involving more than just language. tom foreman shows us how the selection of a pope from argentina could have a big impact on this american journey. >> reporter: the appearance of the spanish-speaking pope from across the atlantic electrified the crowd in italy and lit up u.s. shores too. >> full of joy. happy. very happy. >> as we say in latin america,

la viva papa. >> over the past few decades, american catholic churches like this one in d.c. have undergone a profound transformation. the number of hispanic members has been soaring, pushed so fast by immigration and births that they now account for 1 out of every 3 catholics here. >> and it's a number likely to continue to rise. because latino catholics tend to be younger than catholics as a whole. fully 1/2 of catholics under the age of 40 today are hispanics. >> while many white catholics have been slipping away from the church amid sexual abuse scandals, debates over abortion rights and the role of women, more than made up for the losses, so much so that catholics still comprise about 1/4 of the country as they have for decades. that shift in demographics has dramatically changed the religious map. once a largely northeastern and midwestern faith, catholicism is now growing fastest in the south

and west. >> the new pope has a ready audience coast-to-coast in this country. >> so the fact that he can speak our language is very significant. i think he can get the message through us more effectively. >> and what they share may be more than spanish is the language of change. tom foreman, cnn, washington. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it.

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recent threat of a nuclear first strike. diplomats may see it as saber rattling, but the pentagon views it as a challenge, one that will force the u.s. to ramp up its missile defenses. tom foreman explains how it should work. >> the pentagon is acknowledging that north korea is becoming more of a global threat because of the speed at which it is developing its missile program and its nuclear weapon program. so how does the military want to respond to that? at the front line by going to the pacific ocean where the fear is that north korea on its best day might be able to launch a missile that would go all the way out to hit some parts of the united states. what are they going to do about that? first of all, they want more radar support. they p want a new base in japan here, to be tracking early on what's happening. they want to beef up missiles in alaska and california and, of course, they want steady monitoring from ships at sea, from airplanes overhead and satellites all watching to see if north korea is going to launch at some point our way. how would that work?

well, if north korea launches a missile, all those early warning systems would send the coordinates of the flight back to these response missiles which would fire and go up and try to hit it and take it out. ideally, they would like to hit it early on or in the middle and at a last resort way over here, but what they want is numerous shots at it so they can stop it. they have to have numerous shots because this is all still fairly new technology and it's not all entirely reliable. as i said, we don't know that the north koreans at this point can get a missile to go this far, but our ability to intercept it and stop it is also a tricky, tricky thing to pull off. look at the things we would use for this. as a two-stage missile, this is what we would launch out of alaska and california. this is called an exoatmospheric kill vehicle. it's got propulsion units, also an infrared guidance system in the nose. and that when it gets released locks in on the nuclear warhead

in this missile and it will guide this in to actually smash into that at about 17,000 miles an hour and tear it apart. it does not explode. this is about as big as a refrigerator, smashes into it and tears it apart. you can imagine how difficult that is to pull off. but this is the technology that we're trying to perfect so that we can stop the north korean technology if and when they ever get it perfected and actually can threaten the u.s. mainland. >> really an amazing visual there thanks to tom foreman for that. in maryland, a man is dead after contracting rabies from a donated kidney. three other patients from florida, georgia, and illinois also received organs from the same donor, they are being given anti-rabies shots, they were not tested for rabies before being delivered for transplants. two hit-and-run cases are raising questions about hate crime allegations there. one last summer and one in 2009. in both cases, the victims were

african-american men, the later one is under investigation. but the earlier one was not investigated. that is until our drew griffin started asking questions. >> the cross is so far off the road, you might never notice it unless you were looking for it. ruby purdet never misses it, she put it here 3 1/2 years ago to mark the spot her son died and a mystery began. >> they know he was hit by a car? >> that's what they say. >> did they ever find who drove that car? >> no. >> do you feel that they did an adequate investigation to find who did that? >> no -- i don't really -- i can't say because they say they're still investigating. i don't know, nobody relates to me anything. >> they're still investigating? >> yeah. >> garrett was 41, he walked wherever he went. that can be dangerous, especially if you are black.

in november of 2009, purdet's body was found on this site. the autopsy revealed multiple injuries consistent with being hit by a vehicle. for three years, there's been nothing more than this simple one-page incident report about what happened. no one in the sheriff's department ever bothered to do anything else. >> did they ever come up and down these streets handing out flyers, knocking on doors, asking people if they seen anything? >> no, not over this way. >> do you know of any activity that way? >> no, no one said anything. >> so how do you know they're investigating? >> well, they had put it on the paper, you know, when they found him dead. and then they had put it on there and they wrote it in the newspaper, they said it was still being investigated. >> ruby burdette's hope rests in this one small news article from three years ago that says police

are still investigating. cnn has learned they never really have. >> never have. case turned into us. >> in january we asked the district attorney who covers the county to search his records to find out if anyone from the sheriff's office had contacted him regarding the killing. there was nothing. >> which means one of two things. either it ended up being an accident, which we would not have had or they never found the person that did it. >> what this rural mississippi county believes is that law enforcement treat crimes and investigations differently depending on the color of the victim's skin. >> now, this is not the only case without an investigation. coming up, drew griffin looks into other similar cases in an investigation that got him threats from the local sheriff. the details are next. ghs) i'm telling you right now, the girl back at home would absolutely not have taken a zip line in the jungle. (screams)

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welcome back. before the break, we brought you the story of garrett burdette, he was killed in a hit-and-run accident that wasn't investigated until our drew griffin started requesting questions about it. both victims were african-american, both in pinola county, mississippi. >> last summer johnny, a 61-year-old black man walking far off the shoulder of this road was deliberately run over and killed by a car carrying three white teens. the driver told police he thought he hit a deer. his two passengers both said the 18-year-old driver steered straight for him. the driver's charged with murder, the d.a., though, says there's no evidence to suggest a

racial motive. johnny's brother said the white local law enforcement simply don't want to know the truth. >> do you believe that the sheriff and the district attorney either don't want to or are afraid to know the truth? >> i actually think they don't want to. they don't want to push that issue. >> they don't want to push race? >> i actually believe that. they don't want to push that issue. >> that belief was confirmed to fred just days after his brother's death and literally just around the corner, these four boys walking along the side of the road say they watched as a white jeep barrelled over the top of the hill, increased speed and aimed right at them. >> and they were laughing when they passed by? >> yes, sir. >> and just kept going? >> yes, sir. >> scared you, huh? >> yes, sir. >> parents reported it to the police, no follow-up ever took place. when we tried to reach the sheriff in january about the boys' claims, the sheriff told us not to, quote, stir up

trouble in his county. adding you do something with this and i'll be coming after you. the pinola county sheriff department refuses to talk to us about this case, as well. but we can tell you 3 1/2 years later, the hit-and-run death of garrett burdette remains unsolved. and as far as we can tell, for 3 3 1/2 years this sheriff's department has done very little to find out what happened. >> has anybody from the sheriff's office investigated the d.a.'s office been in contact with you? >> no. >> never? >> never. never. >> never came to ask you if your son had any enemies, any problems with anybody? >> no. nothing. >> and how can you say they're still investigating? >> i'm just going by what the paper -- what the papers say. >> last month, cnn again tried

to ask the panola county sheriff department about the unsolved hit-and-run death of ruby's son. this time we advised the sheriff's department cnn would be airing this report. and again, we got no response. but hours later, ruby burdette did. >> he came in, he said he was the investigator. he introduced himself. we sat at the dining room table and he started talking. he told me he apologized. for no one coming out before now. and he told me that the first investigators they had didn't do anything. he said he was the one that -- he hoped, you know, to see this thing come to an end. he said he would -- you know, if anyone could be found, he was going to find them. >> she doesn't know why now, why it took so long, and why for 3 1/2 years no one in the

sheriff's department seemed to care that a black man was run over and killed. but all that time this grieving mother has held on to a newspaper article hoping one day its story would be true. >> i just want it to be over. i want to know. it's like eating away with me. eating away with me. but being a mother, i want the truth to come out. >> drew griffin, cnn, panola county, mississippi. >> and our thanks to drew griffin for that. well, ten years ago, the u.s. was on the verge of war. now what is left of the country american troops were sent in to liberate. you're going to hear why one family says no much but they're not leaving. we'll explain. olesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy.

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tuesday marks ten years since the u.s. military action against iraq began. bombs pounded baghdad and saddam hussein was eventually caught. and the country began rebuilding. but one family tells our arwa damon what is left of iraq is heartbreaking. >> in another time and place, 22-year-old sama might have pursued her passion for music and the arts. and 14-year-old zana's first memory might not have been a bombing close to her

kindergarten. the sisters belong to a rare species, the remnants of baghdad's professional elite who stayed through the worst of the violence even as their friends packed up and left. their mother is an i.t. professional and human rights activist. >> and why did you stay? >> i still got hope back then. >> we didn't lose hope. >> right now it's worse than 2006, '07 '08. >> it's entrenching, 2006, 2007, there were militias. >> and there were bombings, no-go areas. today fewer iraqis, but do they feel safe? >> no, the fear is different. the fear is different. you don't know who is in the next car. >> i think people changed. i think they came -- the ones who were good left and the only -- only the bad people

stayed here. >> what was it like for you, actually? >> it was frustrating. i was depressed. all my close friends left the country. >> did you ever say i want to go too? >> no because i know that she's doing the right thing. not leaving. i know there's hope. >> we trust her. >> but you've changed your mind now. >> we all changed our minds. >> even busma the eternal optimist drained of hope. >> you don't feel it's home anymore. i don't know i can do anything. and for youth, when they were in the track of university going, the drier takes them, they take lessons and they would go to exams, i know, but afterwards what? >> so when i walk, i don't feel comfortable because i feel threatened that someone might hurt me or, you know, harass me or do anything to me.

and i -- i can't feel safe unless i am with my mother. or with someone who is older than me. >> you guys are just online all the time? >> i have two wi-fis. one of is not enough. >> so it's mostly their life. >> so you're living in a virtual world effectively. >> now they meet at home. it is not right to stay here and this is no place for us because if i stay here i have to be corrupt also.

to live. to survive. >> a lot of people have a tendency to look at the numbers. they'll look at the numbers of people who were killed but from everything you're describing, it's not the barometer. >> no. it's about how to live like human beings. >> here are the numbers. the u.s. war dead is more than 4,000. the number of iraqi civilians killed is estimated to be at least 134,000. in addition, the war may have contributed to the deaths of as many as four times that number. coming up, a story about love and perseverance, a mother and the son she thought she had lost in the system nearly two decades ago are finally reunited. and are reminder to watch cnn's new show "the lead" with jake tappert. starts monday afternoon. tive... so trusted...

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welcome back. here is an amazing story of patience, perseverance, and love. a woman finally adopts the son she thought the system had swallowed up nearly two decades ago. >> congratulations to you both. >> thank you so much. >> it's official. lisa adopted 32-year-old maurice griffin, the foster son she once lost. >> all i can say is finally. >> reporter: they walked out mother and son as ruled by a judge in san diego juvenile court. >> i'm so happy. but it's a little bittersweet. you know, it's been a long time coming. a little bittersweet. but i'm so overjoyed. >> for me, it's great. like i said, best day of my life. i fought for ten years, you know, and finally the day came. and i wouldn't say i ever lost hope, but i didn't know if it was ever going to happen. >> maurice was 1 years old when he says the system destroyed his

then family because of a complex dispute over spanking. authorities took griffin from lisa, her husband, charles harris, and their two biological boys. >> i just felt like i was abducted, like i was just abducted and, you know, plopped somewhere else and told to, you know, deal with it. >> probably one of the saddest days of my life. i mean, we were heartbroken. >> maurice landed in boot camp for troubled teens. charles died. lisa eventually remarried, moved away, changed her last name. contact with maurice was severed. >> i always thought about him, but truthfully, you know, the odds were that he was probably going to wind up in prison or he'd die. >> reporter: but they still looked for each other. six years ago, a key stroke of lady luck, lisa found maurice on myspace. they renewed the adoption quest. >> i love you. >> reporter: lisa and maurice say the adoption is an international symbol of hope for

orphans. >> anyone who has considered being a foster parent, it's the hardest job you will ever love, and it pays off a thousand fold. >> reporter: thinking back on that road, what you know now -- >> i win. >> you do win. >> i win. >> you do win. >> i mean, i fought tooth and nail, and it all meant something at this point. the only thing i want to say is i win. >> cnn, san diego. such a happy ending after all those years. love that story. >> me, too. "cnn newsroom" starts at the top of the hour. good to see you, fred. what do you have? >> we have lots -- you know, if you happen to have a ticket for a cruise, you know, all that's happened involving the the carnival cruise lines may be a bit of a deterrent. however, we're going to talk about what you do with that ticket in terms of what kind of protection should you expect when you get on board carnival cruise lines or any other cruise liner, especially these days. then our legal guys will be along with us.

we have a fascinating prenuptial case to talk about. this involves a new york woman, who went into a prenup, she signed it on the condition that it would be invalidated once she and her husband had kids. well, it led to a very messy divorce and court case involving that prenup. but a very surprise ending. then, of course, we're also going to talk about iran suing the makers of "argo." how far will that go. is that something that will be a proceeding that unfolds in the states, in iran, all because iran is saying it didn't like the depiction of the iran hostage crisis. or will it be somewhere else overseas, perhaps france? all that and more at noon eastern time. just hang out with us all day long because we'll be here. >> thank you. stay with us.